Former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman to Speak at Berry

Former governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman will speak at 7
p.m., Jan. 25, 2018, as part of the Berry College Cecil B. Wright III Integrity
in Leadership lecture series.

Her
lecture “Women, Leadership, Power and Politics: Overcoming Obstacles,” will be
in the Krannert Ballroom and is free and open to the public.

Whitman
is the President of The Whitman Strategy Group (WSG), a consulting firm that
specializes in energy and environmental issues. WSG offers a comprehensive set
of solutions to problems facing businesses, organizations, and governments;
they have been at the forefront of helping leading companies find innovative
solutions to environmental challenges.

Whitman
served in the cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency from January of 2001 until June of 2003. She
was the 50th Governor of the State of New Jersey, serving as its first woman
governor from 1994 until 2001.

As Governor, she earned praise from both
Republicans and Democrats for her commitment to preserve a record amount of New
Jersey land as permanent green space. She was also recognized by the Natural
Resources Defense Council as having instituted the most comprehensive beach monitoring system in the nation. As EPA
Administrator, she promoted common-sense environmental improvements such as
watershed-based water protection policies. She championed regulations
requiring non-road diesel engines to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 95
percent. During her tenure, the Agency was successful in passing and
implementing landmark brownfields legislation to promote the redevelopment and
reuse of “brownfields”, previously contaminated industrial sites.

She
is the author of a New York Times best seller called “It’s My Party
Too”, which was published in January of 2005 and released in paperback in March
2006.

Whitman serves on the Board of
Directors of United Technologies Corporation, and she formerly served on the
Boards of Texas Instruments Inc. and S.C. Johnson and Son, Inc. She is a member
of Terrestrial Energy’s International Advisory Board and holds an Executive
Masters Professional Director Certification from the American College of
Corporate Directors. She is on the Advisory Boards of the Corporate Eco Forum
and The Northeast Maglev.

Whitman also serves a number of non-profit organizations including as Chairman of the American Security Project and Vice-Chairman
of the Trustees of the Eisenhower Fellowships. She is
a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Responsible Shale
Development and she co-chairs the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Leadership
Council. She serves as an advisor to the
Aspen Rodel Fellowship program and on the O’Connor Judicial Selection Advisory
Committee at the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System.
She is a member of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics
at Harvard University and a member of the National Advisory Committees for the
Women’s Coalition for Common Sense and the Presidential Climate Action
Project. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of The National
WWII Museum. At the museum, Whitman, along with her family and friends,
established the John R. Whitman Normandy Scholars Fund to honor his
legacy.

In
2017, Whitman was awarded The Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service. Prior to becoming Governor, she was the President
of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and served on the Somerset County
board of Chosen Freeholders.

Whitman
holds a B.A. from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., and was married for 41
years to the late John R. Whitman. She has two children and seven
grandchildren.

The
Cecil B. Wright III Integrity in Leadership Lecture Series is named for Berry
alumnus and trustee Cecil B. "Buster" Wright III in honor of his role
as a force behind the Center for Integrity in Leadership and its mentoring
program, his financial commitments and his personal character.